Monday, March 9, 2009

Out in the woods

I had a lovely hike this morning in nearby woods, near Lake Issaqueena in the Clemson University Experimental Forest. I was with a friend who shares my love of nature as well as a keen interest in getting others interested too. Delightful.

A wonderful restored forest area (through natural succession), it was worn-out cotton and corn fields back in the 1930's, when the federal government (in the US) provided buyouts to farmers. The lake was used for bombing practice during World War II, but is peaceful today.

The upper loop seems like you're in the mountains -- there's mountain laurel, rhododendron, beech, and a diversity of hardwoods.

I spent the afternoon digging in my (satellite) vegetable garden, adding composted manure, compost, etc. and then went to a sustainability forum on campus. How encouraging and what a nice way to spend a day.

I was on one of my 5 furlough days for this spring (my employer HAS to balance the budget), but this was a delight. I hope the rest of my 'off' days are so productive!

About this blog

My blog posts span two gardens over the last decade, one in the Piedmont of South Carolina and the other in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Our gardens have been increasingly home to native plants, birds, small mammals, and insects of all sorts. My gardening companion (my husband) is equally the gardener.

Woody, our rescue Golden, is now our fellow gardener, now solely in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He follows his previous fellow goldens (and my former gardening assistants): Mocha and Chessie. They bring life to our gardens.